Hardware > Earlier Laptops
Toshiba Satellite A660 16in laptop
Review Fitting a widescreen display into a laptop is all well and good, but it poses a problem: what do you do with all the empty space around the keyboard, now that the machines are so much bigger from one side to the other?
Toshiba Satellite A660-15T Toshiba's Satellite A660-15T: looks only a mother could love?
The original …
Dell Inspiron M101z 11.6in notebook
Review It's common to take a shiny new notebook out of the box, judge it to be worthy and then find that some aspect - performance, price or feel - rubs off the polish. Rare are machines like the Dell Inspiron M101z that leave you happy with your initial verdict. Well, almost...
Dell Inspiron M101z Dell's Inspiron M101z: compact …
Standivarius Aero fold-flat laptop stand
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Acer Aspire 5741
Review The Aspire 5741 follows Acer's tried and true formula of extracting the maximum value from the core hardware without wasting money by adding extra features. The fact of the matter is that the Intel Core i3's combination of CPU and graphics isn't especially exciting but it does a very fair job of work and offers good value for …
HP Pavilion dv6
Review HP describes the Pavilion dv6-3085EA as an "entertainment notebook PC" which shows a shocking lack of imagination as this laptop has a list of interesting features that merit close examination. For starters, this particular version of the dv6 stands out in a world of Intel laptops as it uses an AMD CPU which is allied with an …
Dell Inspiron 15R
Review I'm used to seeing Dell laptops and PCs that are as dull as mud, so the rather attractive-looking Inspiron 15R sample came as a shock. The lid comes in a choice of red, pink, blue or black while the deck of the chassis surrounding the keyboard is chromed.
Dell Inspiron 15R
The power button and activity lights use subdued …
Toshiba Satellite Pro C650
Review Toshiba has built its Satellite Pro C650 into a chassis that feels rather cheap and not especially cheerful. The deck around the keyboard has a curious textured finish that shows greasy fingerprint marks horribly.
Toshiba Satellite Pro C650
Furthermore, the layout of the hardware appears to be guided by the price rather than …
Sony Vaio EB2
Review The Sony Vaio EB2 is available in a choice of brown, black or pink. Presumably Sony mistook your reviewer for a teenage girl as they sent me the pink version, which was a nasty shock.
Sony Vaio EB
More importantly I got a pre-production sample with a Pentium P6000 CPU which runs at 1.87GHz and does not support HyperThreading …
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge
Review Lenovo offers its ThinkPad Edge in a massive number of permutations but they are all rather expensive and start north of £1000. My review sample was a relatively basic model that came without the 3G mobile broadband option and with the 4GB of memory installed in two modules, leaving no scope for an upgrade in that department. …
HP Pavilion dv6-3085ea 15.6in notebook
Review Those who want their notebook PCs to play music and video while managing a burgeoning digital image collection should cast an eye at the HP Pavilion dv6-3085ea. It's an attractively slim computer with a design outline that's generally reminiscent of Apple's MacBook Pro. The clamshell even stays closed thanks to Apple-style …
Samsung N230
Review With the majority of netbooks - and indeed laptops - sporting glossy displays, Samsung is sticking its neck out by giving the N230’s 10.1in panel a matte coating. While this minimises reflections from overhead lighting, windows and other light sources, it also means it’s not quite as vibrant as netbooks with a glossy screen …
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3
Review With a chequered design on the lid, Lenovo’s S10-3 certainly stands out from the crowd. It has a few differences inside too, and this model - the M33DDUK - benefits from a built-in 3G module. Slip in a Sim card and the internet will follow you on your travels. The S10-3 isn’t picky as to which mobile operator you’re with, and it …
HP Mini 210
Review With its curved chassis, HP’s Mini 210 has a slightly different look to most netbooks. Usability is good and the keyboard stretches right to the very edges. And with responsive, well-spaced keys, it has one of the best netbook keyboards I’ve ever typed on. The only anomaly is arrow key section – the up and down keys are shrunk …
Asus Eee PC T101MT
Review The Eee PC T101MT differs from the majority of netbooks in a number of ways, with the flip-and-twist touchscreen display being the most obvious.
Asus Eee PC T101MT
The screen is multi-touch - although only recognises two fingers at a time - and also of the resistive variety, so it requires a slightly firmer touch compared to …
Toshiba NB250
Review With a very plasticy shell and a rather odd rough texture both inside and out, the NB250 has a rather cheap feel to it.
It’s one of the few netbooks to make use of Intel’s Atom N455. Although very similar to the N450 - 1.66GHz clock speed, single-core, 45nm etc. - the N455 supports DDR 3 memory. With this in mind, Toshiba has …
Acer Aspire One D260
Review Acer has churned out some impressive models in its Aspire One series, and the D260 is its latest creation. At 1.21kg, it’s one of the lightest 10.1in netbooks available, and throughout testing it remained impressively cool with no significant hotspots on the keyboard or wrist rest.
Acer Aspire One D260
The keyboard is of the …
Samsung X125 11.6in notebook
Review Computer manufacturers are well known for hyping up their products - "magical", indeed - but few actually fib. Samsung isn't telling porkies, but the sticker on its new X125 overstates with the best of them.
Two claims in particular struck me: "Fast booting" and "ultra-thin design".
Samsung X125 Samsung's X125: netbook plus …
Samsung R780 17.3in laptop
Review Samsung’s R780 has clearly been designed to get noticed. The glossy, deep-red chassis and slightly nauseating swirly line motif won’t appeal to those who like their laptops to be subtle, but it does make it stand out from the crowd. Personally speaking, I quite like it. That said, I also quite liked the design of Acer’s Ethos, …
Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G 18.4in laptop
Review Stylish and powerful, the new 18.4in Aspire Ethos 8943G will appeal to those looking for a desktop replacement that doesn’t hold back on performance. Each of the four cores on the Core i7-720QM purr along at 1.6GHz, while ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 5650 is on hand should you want to indulge in a bit of gaming. Throw in a Blu-ray …
Packard Bell Butterfly XS 11.6in notebook
Review Where does the dividing line between netbooks and notebooks lie? Is an 11.6in screen small enough to dismiss any ideas of true notebook status? Conversely, does having a DVD rewriter lift a portable forever out of netbookdom?
Packard Bell Easynote Butterfly XS Packard Bell's Easynote Butterfly XS: flighty?
For those who want …
Apple MacBook mid-2010
Review There’s no persuading a committed PC nerd of the unnerdy appeal of Apple’s consumer products, so I won’t bother. Whatever I write about Apple’s latest MacBook, they’ll hate it. They can buy computers for far less money that achieve better benchmark results, and serious computers are supposed to look hideous, so case closed.
Move …
Acer Aspire 1825PT 11.6in touchscreen notebook
Review Some years ago, I made a fool of myself by describing Microsoft's ultimately doomed Tablet PC concept as a good idea. My saving grace was that I wasn't as dim as all the Tablet PC manufacturers, who chose to overprice their own products out of existence.
Acer Aspire 1825PT Acer's Aspire 1825PT: if only Tablet PCs had always …
Packard Bell EasyNote LM 17in laptop
Review Back in May I reviewed Packard Bell’s dot S2 netbook and was disappointed to find it was little more than a Aspire One 532h rebranded from parent company Acer. I was therefore pleased to see the new EasyNote LM looks totally unlike any of Acer’s 17in Aspires and Timelines.
Packard Bell EasyNote LM Packard Bell’s EasyNote LM: …
Sony Vaio P netbook
Review Sony manages to conjure up some lovely pieces of kit, but it also has a tendency to slap outrageous price tags on them. And this was no more apparent than when it launched the Vaio P-Series last year.
Sony Vaio P Series Sony’s Vaio P: small, light, but darned expensive
Small and sexy, the original P-Series was designed to …
Samsung NB30 touchscreen durable netbook
Review Samsung's range of first generation netbooks consisted of such a bewildering array of similar spec machines that a year on its difficult to remember what the difference was between the N110, N120 and N310. So I had a slight sinking feeling when the NB30 turned up because the basic specification is identical to the N220.
Samsung …
Dell Alienware M11x 11in gaming notebook
Review The Alienware M11x has been heralded as the world's first true gaming netbook. To be fair, that's not a misnomer Dell uses in its advertising, preferring to position the 285mm wide 11.6in widescreen unit as simply a sub-15in gaming laptop.
Alienware M11x Fire walk with me: Dell Alienware M11x
It's right to do so. At 33mm …
MSI Wind U160
Review MSI was one of the first companies to see the importance of the Eee PC as a new category of portable. The Wind U160 is its latest response to a growing range of netbooks based on Intel’s low-power Atom chips. Yet can it break the ‘me-too’ mould and offer something extra?
MSI Wind U160 A mighty wind? MSI's U160
MSI’s original …
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX touchscreen notebook
Review Toshiba is evidently very pleased with its Satellite U500 design: it has now based several models on it, including one with joint Ducati branding. The 1EX version reviewed here adds support for Windows 7 touchscreen gestures.
Toshiba Satellite U500 Toshiba's Satellite U500-1EX, decked out in an 'interesting' two-tone black and …
Dell Latitude XT2 XFR ruggedised laptop
Review Dell’s XT2 tablet PC has been around for just over a year, and now the company has come up with a fully-ruggedised version in the form of the XT2 XFR. Able to withstand drops, freezing temperatures and rain, it’s primarily aimed at those who have to cope with something a little more testing than a daily commute on the train. …
Apple MacBook Pro 15in
Review Remember the Apple PowerBooks? They were pants. Of course, I didn't know this at the time. It's only now, having had the chance to play with Apple's latest MacBook Pro, that I realise that everything that came before it was so dreadfully ordinary.
Apple MacBook Pro 15in Apple's MacBook Pro 15in: now with Core i5 or i7 CPU …
Packard Bell dot S2
Review It’s been a couple of years since Acer gobbled up Packard Bell as part of its quest for world domination, and the Taiwanese giant seems perfectly happy to continue churning out netbooks under both brands.
Packard Bell Dot S2 Another dotty netbook from Packard Bell
The dot S2 is the latest in a long line of slightly …
Acer Timeline X 4820TG
Review A year ago Acer’s Aspire Timeline 4810T notched up a ground-breaking eight hours of battery life thanks to the careful use of low power Core 2 hardware. The new Acer Aspire Timeline X ups the ante with claims that it can deliver up to 12 hours from the optional nine-cell battery – the standard six-cell is another story.
Acer …
Dell Studio 17 touchscreen notebook
Review When it comes to mobile phones, tablet PCs or one of those brightly-coloured public access kiosks you find in airports and shopping centres, touchscreen displays make perfect sense. They do away with the need for a space-consuming keyboard and let the display take up the majority of the device.
Dell Studio 17 Dell's Studio 17: …
Samsung R580 15.6in notebook
Review Such is the pressure on PC makers to come up with ever more compelling designs - let alone exciting internals - that they must get so absorbed in their work that they forget to check on what their rivals are up to.
Samsung R580 Samsung's R580: over designed?
Case in point: Samsung's new R580, a 15.6in entertainment-centric …
Viewsonic ViewBook 130 ultra-slim laptop
Review The slimline design and silvery-grey finish of Viewsonic’s ViewBook will prompt inevitable comparisons with Apple’s MacBook Air - reviewed here. The ViewBook is only about half the price, though, so Viewsonic is obviously hoping to attract people that can’t manage the MacBook Air’s hefty price-tag.
Viewsonic Viewbook 130 …
Sony Vaio M Atom 2.0 netbook
Review The new Vaio M is the first Sony netbook to be pitched at the increasingly common £300 price point and it is also the first to use the now equally common 1024 x 600 resolution screen. This display choice suggests that – after the highly desirable but horrendously expensive P Series and the cheaper but still unpopular hi-rez W …
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e
Review As netbooks approach adolescence, they're outgrowing the original bargain basement specs and compromises acceptable to a beach girl, and heading towards £500. But around this price they're meeting ever-cheaper thin and light notebooks, or "ultraportables". The result is an overcrowded and confusing market place.
Lenovo ThinkPad …
Dell Latitude Z
Review If you want a laptop to impress, then a likely choice is a high-end MacBook rather than an amorphous black box Windows notebook, that looks about as cool as a fridge-freezer. With admiring glances in mind, is Dell's Inspiron Latitude Z, a machine the company is heralding as the thinnest and most stylish 16in laptop around.
Dell …
Toshiba Satellite T130
Review If Toshiba's svelte Satellite T110 was too small for you, the next model up, the T130, might not be. Both are part of the company's "thin, light and mobile" line-up, but while the T110 - reviewed here - is an 11.6in laptop that likes look down on netbooks, its bigger sibling is a 13.3in notebook that promises to be more fleet of …
Dell Mini 10
Review As every netbook maker worth its salt hurries to replace its existing line-up with second generation models using Intel's new Pine Trail chipset, we are clearly going to have to get used to being presented with an ever increasing slew of machines which frankly are pretty much the same as the ones they replace.
Dell Mini 10 Dell …
Acer Aspire One 532
Review If you thought the netbook market was already flooded, Intel’s recently-launched 'Pine Trail' platform means you can expect another new batch to come through. We’ve already seen Asus’ take on Pine Trail with the Eee PC 1005PE - reviewed here. Now we have Acer’s Aspire One 532h.
Acer Aspire One 532 Acer's Aspire One 532: 'Pine …
Dell Vostro V13
Review You know where you stand with business-oriented laptops. They're chunky, dull-looking machines with all the pizazz of a rainy afternoon in Chester. Dell's Vostro range has been a case in point: a collection of low-power, low-charisma laptops likely to appeal only to the most frugal of IT department bean counters.
Dell Vostro …
